Note added: This review was written one year ago by Jewish professor Henry Makow, who is the inventor of the board game Scruples. He received his Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Toronto. He welcomes your feedback and ideas at: henry@savethemales.ca.

Excerpts:

THEODOR FRITSCH (1852-1934)

Called "the most influential German anti-Semite before Hitler," Fritsch's most influential book Handbuch der Judenfrage 1896 (Handbook of the Jewish Question) went through dozens of printings, and was taught in German schools during the Nazi era. Most copies were destroyed after World War Two.

"Handbook" was translated into English in 1927 and titled "The Riddle of the Jew's Success" by F. Roderich-Stoltheim, a pen name. It is extremely rare; original copies cost as much as $1000.

Fritsch does not fit the image of hatemonger foaming at the mouth. His book impresses me as the work a civilized man with considerable spiritual discernment. His central point is that Judaism does not deserve credit for monotheism because the Jewish God is not universal.

"It is a fatal mistake of our theologians to regard the Jewish God as identical with the Christian. On a closer examination, Jehovah is found to be the exclusive God of Jewdom and not, at the same time, that of other men."

He cites many passages from the Old Testament to demonstrate that the Covenant between Jews and their God "bears a hostile meaning for all non-Jewish people."

As a consequence, the Talmud (which is the Jewish code of law) distinguishes one system of morality for Jews and another for Gentiles who are regarded as cattle or swine. Fritsch cites many references to show it is permitted to lie, cheat or steal from a Gentile. (pp. 57-65)

Fritsch concludes that anti Semitism is a natural reaction to these hostile attitudes which he claims are actually practised by many Jews. Since these beliefs are kept secret from non-Jews, he says Judaism is a conspiracy against non-Jews. Its aim is to fulfill the Covenant, and gain dominion over mankind by controlling wealth.

DEFENCE MECHANISM

Anti Semitism is not an irrational hatred or sickness in the Gentile soul, as Jews imagine. It is a healthy defense mechanism of mainly Christian and Moslem nations, cultures, races and religions that are threatened by a gradual and insidious process of extinction.

Most "anti Semitic" books I've seen are remarkably free of hatred and rancor. They do not advocate violence against Jews but present measures to retain national and racial character similar to those practiced by Jews in Israel today.

They tend to be reasonable and portray the Gentile as a feckless victim...Leon de Poncins would even accept Jewish leadership if it were benign.

"The Jewish Question" has been a major issue for hundreds of years. As early as 1879, a German writer lamented that it cannot be discussed honestly.

"Since 1848 if we Germans so much as criticized any little thing Jewish, it was enough to have us entirely outlawed from the press," wrote Wilhelm Marr. "While a sense of delicacy is wholly absent among the Jews [when satirizing Germans], it is demanded of us that we handle them like fine glassware or extremely sensitive plants." (Anti Semitism in the Modern World: An Anthology 1991, p.85)

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Part of the Riddle:

"I think the strongest anti-Semitism sometimes exists among Jews. To this day a German Jew often hates Russian or Polish Jews. There are German-Jewish clubs around this country that did not allow Russian or Polish Jews when they first started. Some have relented a little, but not all. I'm sure that when Hitler started, many German Jews didn't mind what he did to other Jews. They didn't expect him to turn on them. Isn't it ridiculous? But if anti-Semitism can exist among Jews, why shouldn't it exist among others?" --- actor Kirk Douglas (ne้ Issur Danielovitch, son of Russian-Jewish immigrants), The Ragman's Son - An Autobiography, p. 23 (Pocket Books: New York, 1989)

A Classic book you should read for research titled:

The Riddle of the Jew's Success
F. Roderich-Stoltheim (Theodor Fritsch)